Program Overview

Chief Data and Analytics Officer Program

The Chief Data and Analytics Officer program at George Mason University is designed to prepare individuals for a leadership role in setting the analytics vision and strategy, data sharing, policies, and opportunities to create and capture value from data.

Program Overview

The program is presented in partnership with industry and educational leaders and is designed to help participants advance their organization's data management agenda while networking with faculty, subject matter experts, and other participants.

Program Details

• Next Cohort: January 2026 - May 2026
• Delivery: Hybrid; online sessions and in-person sessions at Mason Square (formerly the Arlington Campus)
• Cost: $8,500

Who Should Attend?

The ideal candidate has:

• 4 to 6 years of experience in middle to upper management with demonstrated organizational leadership experience.
• Working knowledge of data management tools and experience implementing data management practices.
• Solid communications skills.
• An undergraduate degree or equivalent experience.

Schedule

• Opening Session: January 12 - January 14, 2026
• Online Sessions: January 20 - February 27, 2026
• Mid-Point Session: March 4 - March 5, 2026
• Online Sessions: March 11 - May 7, 2026
• Closing Session: May 12 - May 13, 2026

Learning Outcomes

Graduates of the Chief Data and Analytics Officer program will be able to:

• Establish and lead the data organization's data activities as a strategic and aligned business partner.
• Develop, in concert with senior leadership, a comprehensive strategic data plan with a mission, vision, and specific, measurable goals that are fully aligned with the organization.
• Effectively and efficiently execute the strategic data plan.
• Build the necessary infrastructure to integrate data practices into the business.
• Create and sustain an enabling data-focused ecosystem with conditions to encourage a culture of data-driven understanding and decision making, innovations for data management applications, and value creation.
• Engage the organization's leadership team in support of data initiatives at the enterprise level.
• Lead innovation and change activities by fully leveraging the data asset of the organization.

Executive Certificate

This program is delivered as a non-degree, executive certificate. Attendees have the opportunity to add a badge credential from Credly for successful completion of the program to their resume for organizational recognition (internal and external) and to indicate the accomplishment of obtaining a George Mason University credential. In addition to the Credly badge, attendees receive 8.5 CEUs upon successful completion of the program.

Program Curriculum

The curriculum is composed of three core competency areas:

• Transformational Organization Leadership
• Innovative Business and Operational Acumen
• Mastery of Data and Analytics Ecosystem

Transformational Organization Leadership

• The C-Suite Leader in an Organization: Explore the pivotal role executive leaders take in shaping organizational success and culture.
• Being a Strategic C-Suite Leader: Examine what strategic thinking means and how executives can cultivate it to drive their success.
• Cultivating a Positive Organizational Culture: Investigate the construct of emotional culture and the importance of cultivating a positive emotional culture for employees, teams, divisions, and organizations.
• Communication Techniques for Dynamic Teams: Explore how improv techniques can revolutionize team communication and leadership strategies.

Innovative Business and Operational Acumen

• AI and the Future of Business: Examine the transformative role of artificial intelligence in reshaping business sectors.
• AI Enabled Digital Transformation: Introduce participants to the basic building blocks of artificial intelligence and strategies for leading through digital transformation.
• Digital Story Telling: Equip participants with the ability to identify key elements of effective data visualization and storytelling practices.
• Understanding Organizational Change: Explore the challenges and opportunities involved in change management, especially the areas of employee resistance, how to overcome it, and how to champion results.
• Creativity and Innovation: Practice using the construct of Appreciative Intelligence for creativity, new ideas generation, and innovation.
• Influencing and Negotiation: Dive into the fundamentals of negotiation and conflict management theory and best practices in organizations.
• Business and Process Excellence: Discuss the role of operational excellence in facilitating change and delivering value.

Mastery of Data and Analytics Ecosystem

• Analytical Decision Making: Focus on utilizing data-driven approaches to enhance decision-making processes, emphasizing statistical analysis, predictive modeling, and optimization techniques.
• Data Strategy and Architecture: Effectively execute a data strategy, as well as align stakeholders' understanding of where key data lives and how it flows through the enterprise.
• Pillars of Data Transformation: Explore the fundamental principles and techniques of converting raw data into meaningful insights, focusing on data cleaning, integration, and visualization to enhance decision-making processes.
• Business Models for Data Driven Organizations: Introduce the business model canvas and demonstrate the role of data and analytics in each component of the canvas.
• Data Protection, Privacy and Cyber Security: Examine the strategies and technologies used to safeguard sensitive information, emphasizing legal frameworks, ethical considerations, and best practices in data privacy and cybersecurity.
• Data Governance and Ethics: Look at various approaches to data governance that include both short-term and long-term wins, based on organizational data-culture, and cover the CDO's growing involvement in guiding organizations in data ethics.
• Advanced Data Management: Reflect on planning and assessment as key activities of data management, setting up a data management strategy and plan which includes business-focused metrics for data use and impact of analytics.